


The Demon, The Ghost, and The Minnow

by McNuggets



Series: Bullshit and Shenanigans [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Canon Gay Relationship, F/M, Fictional Locations, Gen, M/M, Mermaids, Princes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:33:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McNuggets/pseuds/McNuggets
Summary: Three different stories involving the employees of Avery’s Cat Cafe that thread into each other.
Relationships: Avery Lycroft/Elijah Church, Jaden Mulberry/Domino L'Herroux, Shelby Broflovski-Horowitz/Morskoi
Series: Bullshit and Shenanigans [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172003
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Demon, The Ghost, and The Minnow

**Author's Note:**

> I tried dividing this into chapters, I really did.
> 
> I can't.

“The Island of Calyss was known to be an island in the center of the Gulf of Mexico in the south, where weather was warm about 99% of the time. It was known to be a special island, one that was the home of a strong witch clan that dealt with plant magic, as the land thrived with tropical flora and fauna. It was one of the few places where witches could live in peace without hiding their identity to the world, where the Clan Rosales protected the island from any sort of threat, magical or not. It was also an island that was home to not just witches and demons, but other creatures as well.

When I was a child I knew I needed to grow strong and fight for my rightful place as demon lord if I wanted to keep the one person I truly cared about. For if I became a demon lord then no one would try to dispute me for joining with the heir of the Clan Rosales, even if he wasn’t a fully recognized heir. It pained me to leave him while he lived in such distress, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t take him with me. Upon arriving back onto Calyss, I found that the fox tribe had ravaged the island and taken it over in a struggle for retribution over the last heir’s fleeing of the clan - as she was supposed to join with the leader of the tribe, a fox named Rhys. It fell upon me and my brethren to battle against the fox tribe to restore the order that had been so disrupted, but by the time we cleared the foxes out of Calyss, the Clan Rosales had become smaller than it used to be. Had I known that Rhys was planning to get what he felt he deserved by going for mi amor, then I wouldn’t have stayed to rebuild, because by the time I was finished and had received my title, Kenny had gone missing. I had no idea Rhys had found him and used his magic to hide him from me.”

Kenny was half-splayed on Damien’s lap, humming along to the radio that was silently playing as Damien told his side of the story to those that wanted to hear. Everyone was sitting with him, the sun blocked by the shade of the awning they sat under. Willow, Jaden, and Shelby had their legs in the hot tub while Renzo and Thomas were sitting in chairs, Isiah manning the grill as burgers sizzled over the open flames.

“I see, well, you’re already less weird than Rhys, so welcome aboard?” Thomas looked unsure of the words he wanted to say. “What does this mean, do you actually replace the bloke?”

“Oh if you’re wondering if I’m coming back with you all then it’s definite. I’m not letting Kenny out of my sight.” Damien’s hand fell to Kenny’s hair, petting the man who was so relaxed in his lap that he was nearly falling asleep.

“You two have been connected at the hip since we came back.” Shelby pointed out, taking a sip of her virgin daiquiri. “It’s cute.”

“It’s only been a day.” Jaden stirred her drink, “Man, this shit slaps.” She looked at the drink in her hands, “Do you think we can take the cook home with us or is he required to stay here?”

“He lives on the island, sadly.” Willow’s head tipped back, “Jaques, another apple juice please!”

“Right.” The only man wearing a full-on uniform had just finished pouring some coconut juice for Renzo, smiling at Willow though his bangs and taking her glass as he went back into the kitchen.

“Man, I wish I was Avery. He has all this money to throw around and here I am shopping for clothes at Wal-Mart.” Isiah shook his head as he began to flip the patties. “A damn crying shame.”

“He doesn’t even like spending the money.” Renzo agreed, “I say we ask for raises, I want a new gaming setup.”

“He can hear you!” Shelby whisper-yelled, pointing to an open window on the second floor.

“Oi! Boss, give me eight grand for a stereo setup!” Thomas called out towards the window.

“Yeah, give me money for a new computer!” Renzo added.

Elijah poked his head out of the window, “He’s my wallet, get your own!”

Willow burst out into giggles as Isiah began to laugh, the man grinning from ear to ear. “Damn, Avery has himself a trophy husband.”

It wasn’t long until there were faint sounds of moaning coming from overhead, and Shelby bit her lip, staring up at the window as her hands twitched. “My horny senses are tingling.”

“Your horny senses are always tingling.” Jaden pat her back, “They fuck like rabbits.”

“At least Avery is getting something.” Willow said then, reaching for her apple juice as Jaques re-appeared to hand it to her. “He’s been lonely for a long time, let the man fuck.”

“I would just never guessed Avery would be horny, that’s all.” Shelby frowned, “He always came off so deadpan and serious.”

“Let. The man. Fuck.” Jaden clapped her hands together, “He’s probably hadn’t been touched in his whole twenty-eight years of living, he deserves to get his dick wet.”

Kenny chose that moment to open his eyes, looking up at Damien through his glasses, “That reminds me.” He smiled widely and moved to sit up, leaning forward to whisper into Damien’s ear before the demon grinned and grasped his hand, leading him into the house.

“Suddenly it’s way too gay in here.” Renzo said as he watched the two run off.

“I think it’s sweet, ya’know?” Thomas smiled, “Two childhood sweethearts findin’ each other after all this time?” He paused for a moment, hearing a cry, “But you’re right, this is getting gayer than a pride parade.”

“Exactly!” Renzo stood up, “Let’s go into town and get some mangos.”

Thomas stood up with him, smiling. “It’s a date!”

The three women watched as Renzo and Thomas began to depart, the same thought going through their heads.

“If we find them in bed together before the end of this trip then I’m going to owe someone a lot of money.” Willow said.

Shelby shrugged, “Nah, I don’t think so. Thomas is straighter than a board and Renzo prefers thighs.” She looked away, towards the sea and finally stood up. “If everyone’s leaving then I’m going to get a swim in.”

Isiah finally looked up to see how many people had left, “Why’s everyone leaving? What about the burgers?”

“Fuck your burgers!” Kenny’s voice shouted from the third-floor window.

There was suddenly the sound of a dog barking, Jaden’s head perking up to see Domino walking towards the house from a distance. “My date’s here, I’m gone.”

“Damn.” Willow took a look at Domino, chuckling to herself as she sipped on her juice.

Isiah frowned, “I guess it’s just you and me.”

“I’m only gonna stay until it’s time for my nap, buddy, then it’s only gonna be you.”

Isiah wondered if fish liked beef.

Shelby drowned out the rest of the activity as she made her way down to the seaside, pulling her shirt off to reveal the bikini below it and placing the garment on a beach chair that was sitting close by. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and listening to the sea. It sounded peaceful, serene, like all of her troubles could roll off of the waves and sink into the dark abyss. She was always a water person, ever since her parents took her swimming at the beach. When her eyes opened she smiled, taking a step forward, the excitement just pouring out of her now that she had a chance to swim without any interruptions. No weird demons to chase after, no impending doom, just her and the water. Quickly, she gathered her hair into a bun and ran for it, letting out a cry of joy before leaping into the water.

The ocean was different here than it was where she was from, for instance, the water was clear enough to see. There was pretty colors down below, belonging to coral and tropical fish, no sharks in sight. She heard Avery mention a net system that his family installed that separated his family’s swimming area from the wilder parts of the ocean, perhaps that was why there were no sharks. Clearly, just beyond that the depths of the water got darker and darker, and before her was an endless sea of curiosities.

Shelby paid the sea beyond the netting no mind, turning around to swim back, she was here to enjoy herself, moving just how a graceful fish would through the water. It was almost like a dance that she herself made up, making fluid flips under the water that startled the nearby fish.

She was so focused on her swimming she didn’t seem to notice the pair of eyes that were on her, belonging to another person, a man just beyond the net that had human-like features yet possessing a fishtail. The net was the only thing keeping him from getting closer to the beautiful swimming human, and he reached forward and grasped the net. After tugging it a few times he come to the realization that it was breakable, he just needed something sharp enough to slice through it.

He left before Shelby could turn back.

♥♥♥

Jaden looked at her reflection for the tenth time, adjusting the straps to her island top, the lovely gold floral against cream backdrop, looking again at the black leggings she wore. It looked so simple, but did it look appropriate for a fancy restaurant?

Domino thought so.

She stopped fixing her hair as a pale redhead walked out of the stall, going to the mirror to check her makeup before taking out a tube of red lipstick, applying it to her lips. The shade of the lipstick was what looked odd, as it was as bright as her hair, making her skin look paler in comparison. It wouldn’t have looked all that weird, but with the addition to her neon green dress with hot pink flowers, it looked completely ugly. Jaden kept her eyes on the mirror, but directed at her as the woman put away the lipstick and applied green eyeshadow. It took everything in her not to cringe. When the woman finally left Jaden rolled her eyes and smiled at her reflection.

“Gotta tell Isiah there’s a new clown on the island.” She said to herself, smirking as she left the room, heading back to her table. Domino was the kind of man who could make a paper bag look good, only dressed in relaxed jeans and a short-sleeve pinstripe shirt. Jaden gave him a smile as she sat down, “Sorry I was gone too long.”

Domino shook his head, “No problem, I was just thinking about going to the loo myself. I’ve already paid for the meal, so excuse me for a moment.” He stood from his seat, taking her hand and kissing the top of it before leaving her alone at the table.

Jaden watched as he left, or, she watched his ass as it grew distant. “God I want to hit that.” She said to herself, settling her chin on her hand as she lazily looked over the restaurant. It was completely fancy, a four-star island restaurant with the most lax dress code that Jaden has ever heard of. She assumed that all fancy places made you wear formal attire but when they showed up in what they were wearing, the waiters didn’t bat an eye, also greeting Domino like he was a good friend of the establishment, giving them a private table next to the garden window.

She closed her bronze dusted eyes for a moment, humming along to the soft music before someone approached the table.

“Excuse me.”

When Jaden opened her eyes she was met with the checkbook, sticking out of it was Domino’s credit card and the receipt for the meal they had just ate. She zeroed in on the card, staring at it for a moment before her eyes went to where Domino had left, back to the credit card. With one hand she grabbed her phone, snatching the card with the other and looking along the fine print in the back. She dialed the number, her eyes still roaming the area as she began to check the balance.

“The balance for this Platinum Rewards card is…”

Jaden’s eyes went wide and she hung up quickly, shoving the card back into the book and putting her phone away just in time for Domino to make his way back. She gave him a smile once he had gotten to the table, “Shall we go?”

“Where do you want to go next?” Jaden kept her voice even, though on the inside she was screaming.

_“TAKE ME SHOPPING YOU RICH ASS BASTARD.”_

Domino took his card in his hand to put it away in his wallet, “I suppose I could take you around the island, there’s some lovely boutiques here that I would love for you to see.

_“YESSS YOU DELICIOUS BLACK BRITISH MAN SPEND MONEY ON ME.”_

Jaden kept her face neutral. “Boutiques? I don’t want to be a burden on your wallet.”

_“THE HELL I DON’T.”_

“I insist.” Domino wasn’t backing down, “It’s on me.”

“I really shouldn’t impose.”

_“STOP IT.”_

Domino stepped closer to her and cupped her cheek with his hand, “A classy lady such as yourself deserves to be spoiled.”

_“YESSSSS SPOIL ME.”_

Jaden was blushing by now, “Oh you really are a charmer aren’t you? How am I supposed to say no to that?”

_“DON’T SAY NO TO THAT YOU STUPID ASS BITCH. ACCEPT IT. YOU EARNED THIS. I will literally cry if you deny me this.”_

“Then let’s go, the day is still bright.” Domino took her hand after kissing her cheek, “I want to make this day memorable for you, love.”

_“MARRY ME.”_

Jaden said nothing, smiling wide and following him out.

The sun was bright, as he said, the weather was better than how it was where she lived, which made sense because they were further south. She had to remember that humans weren’t the only thing on this island, which was still mind-boggling to her. Damien spoke of Demi-humans, who hid their identities to humans to keep themselves from being discovered. Jaden had to give everyone that past her a second look, wondering who just might be one.

Domino kept his calm stride, waving to those who had greeted him, his eyes going to Jaden at his side every now and then. As they were about to turn the corner, Domino spotted a group of people that made him grasp Jaden by the shoulder and turn her around. “Let’s take this route. Less people.”

Jaden looked confused but didn’t fight him, “Ah—okay.” She glanced back to the corner, wondering who Domino saw.

Domino led her into a nearby boutique, keeping his sunglasses on even though they were indoors. Jaden took note that once he had seen the girl up front that he seemed to relax and take them off. “Mira.”

“Mr. Domino.” She pulled on a smile, stepping forward and taking in Jaden’s presence. “You have a companion with you!” She clapped her hands together, “Is there something you would like?”

“Anything that this lovely lady desires.” He said then, taking Jaden’s hand, “Mira will help you with whatever you need.”

Jaden looked along the boutique, taking in the fine-looking garments and the expensive-looking bags, but more importantly, the shoes. However, one thing was on her mind. Boutiques were mainly for people who were skinny as a rail and ate nothing but air. She made her way to the dresses to look over the sizings, almost choking on her own saliva when she saw how far the sizes went.

“REALLY?” She cried out.

Mira stepped over to her, “Is there a problem?”

“Y’all don’t cater to skinny white bitches?”

The woman let out a laugh, “If you take a look around the island, you’ll see the clientele we cater to. There are a couple of boutiques that do that, this one and a couple in particular do not.”

Jaden nodded slowly, looking back at Domino.

_“Bruh I’m going to murder this man’s bank account.”_

♥♥♥

Avery remembered the days he spent on this private island when he was younger. Back then he had no idea about things like witches and demons, yet he never had the chance to explore the island as he was doing it now. When he was a child he was specifically told to never leave the beachside property. Him as well as Runa. He exclusively remembered how his father would leave the house for hours on end as the staff took care of him and his sister. Runa wasn’t too bothered with it, carrying on with whatever she was enjoying, but Avery hated it, and he hardly left his room because of it.

To think that all of this was taking place on the island and he was ignorant to it all. Did his father know? He must have known, was he trying to protect them because of it? If so then why did he take them here during summers before they were sent abroad?

It made no sense.

It bothered him that he was never allowed to do much when he was a child, neither him nor Runa were allowed to do much. They were close in that regard, as they only had each other with an absent father who thought to throw around money to make them feel better. It was only when they were sent to a private school that they got to taste the mere threads of freedom, but because of their lack of a childhood, it was harder to be sociable and make friends. Somehow, Runa was able to do it without problem, but Avery found that being social was even harder than he thought.

He knew Runa had good intentions, sending him to Calyss, but she failed to realize that the island didn’t hold any fond memories for him at all, that this was when he felt isolated from his father and wished he had at least a mother, but even then, all he knew about his mother was that she died giving birth to them. Beyond that, his father wouldn’t say a thing.

“Avery?”

Avery felt a hand on his arm, shaking him out of his thoughts. He blinked, remembering where he was and turning his head to see his boyfriend stare at him with worry. “I’ve said your name five times now.” He said then, moving to sit on his lap. “Is something wrong?”

The bespectacled man didn’t answer at first, leaning against the stack of pillows behind him as he wrapped his arms around Elijah. “I’m bored.” He lied.

Elijah bent forward to kiss along his chin, “You’re saying that when you’re in bed with me?” He quirked a grin, “I could fix that.”

Avery slowly sat up further, “I don’t really feel like having sex again.”

“Is something wrong?” Elijah began to frown, “Am I doing something wrong?”

“I—“ Avery closed his mouth after a moment, soon sighing and putting his hand to his forehead. He failed to remember Elijah had abandonment and self-worth issues. “It’s not you.” Avery chose his words carefully, staring at his boyfriend, “It’s where we are…”

The bed shifted as Elijah scooted off of him, “If it’s where we are we could always go somewhere else.” He gave Avery a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t mind walking around the island. You can show me—“

Avery placed his hand over Elijah’s mouth. “It’s the island.”

Elijah’s blue eyes look upon Avery with confusion, and the man knew that he had to elaborate. Avery sighed and moved his hand away. “The only memories I have of this island is being sent here when I was a child and being told I wasn’t to leave the property. My father would leave and I would be taken care of by the staff…it just…extends to a bigger problem with my father being absent in my life yet isolating me for my whole childhood until I was sent to a private school.”

“So…this place doesn’t hold fond memories.”

“No, for Runa possibly, but not for me.” He looked out the window, “It’s just a tribute to how my father assumed he could buy my happiness.”

Elijah went quiet for a while, rocking where he sat as he trailed his eyes to the window. “Take me to the village.”

Avery looked at him oddly, and Elijah only smiled. “You say you don’t have good memories of the island right? Then let’s make some. If I can give you a better memory about this island then I’m sure you’ll leave feeling less depressed about coming here.”

He shifted, pulling one leg up so he could settle his arm on his knee, watching his boyfriend as he thought about it. The man did have a point, didn’t he? It would be better than just ruining the rest of the week sulking over a past that he couldn’t change. It wasn’t fair to Elijah if he did that, and it wouldn’t be fair to his employees… _friends_ …if he ruined their fun.

With a show of hesitation, Avery finally relented, moving to get off the bed so he could get dressed. “Where do you want to go? I don’t know where anything is.”

Elijah bounced off the bed and went for the dresser. “Let’s just walk around and go to where we feel like. We went to that restaurant the day before, right? We can try out another place today. I want to try the island BBQ, maybe get some fish skewers or musubi.”

“Don’t over eat.” Avery chided, watching the smaller man put on shorts and a sleeveless hoodie. Elijah pouted and turned to him, folding his arms.

“I ate like a cat for eleven years, I want real food.”

“Cats eat fish.” Avery countered, pulling on his usual slacks and a soft white shirt.

“Not seared over a grill with a squeeze of lemon.”

“Point proven.”

Elijah peered at what Avery was wearing, picking at the man’s shirt. “I’m going to buy you real clothes.”

The statement brought him a scoff. “These are real clothes.”

“You have no vacation clothes, or anything casual. That’s it, we’re stopping by a few boutiques.”

Avery began to wonder if this was a good idea or if he should have opted to stay inside, only to not voice his opinion and cave into his boyfriend’s tenacious attitude. Elijah had this way with arguments that made Avery decide that it was better to just give in than argue, because in his heart he knew he wouldn’t be able to win those arguments and that Elijah would end up getting his way otherwise.

There was no one to greet as they left the house, Isiah was having a conversation with Jaques and Willow was no-where to be found, though the door to her room was shut with a warning of retribution if opened. Neither of them checked, deciding to head towards the beach, where they saw Shelby sitting under the beach umbrella. Kenny and Damien were also missing, but Avery didn’t even want to go broach that topic.

The road out of the property was lined with palm trees and a fence, the only opening being where the security hut was located. Avery didn’t think about it before but he wondered if his father implemented those to keep Avery and Runa from leaving. He sighed, shaking his head. He had to stop thinking about his father. He decided to pay attention to the man at his side, squeezing Elijah’s hand.

“Where do you want to go first?” Asked Avery.

Elijah led him forward towards the main street, looking along the buildings until one of them caught his eye. “Over there!” He pulled Avery along, and Avery had to hurry to keep up with him. The shop was across from the marketplace, and when Elijah stopped so did Avery.

“You gotta try this Thomas.”

Avery looked to his right to where a stall was, standing next to it were Renzo and Thomas, one of them cutting a weird-looking fruit with his knife. Thomas only gave the fruit a strange look.

“It reminds me of a durian.”

“It’s not.”

“Yeah, cuz it doesn’t stink.”

“Open your mouth.” Renzo held up a piece.

Thomas scrunched his nose for a moment before sighing, opening his mouth so Renzo could feed him. He chewed on the fruit thoughtfully, his eyes brightening as he began to realize why Renzo wanted him to try it. He flashed Renzo a thumbs up, which made Renzo grin. Before he could pop a piece into his own mouth Thomas snatched it away, “Say AH.”

Renzo gave him a strange look before relenting, rolling his eyes and opening his mouth, “Ah—nom.”

Avery quirked a brow at the display before he was pulled into the shop.

The two were gone by the time Avery re-emerged from the shop, in his hands were a couple of bags and a tired expression on his face. That didn’t deter Elijah, who had taken a hold of his sleeve and tugged him further down the street. He didn’t say a thing, letting his mind wander as they passed the locals. Though, as they turned the corner they heard laughing, and Avery recognized the sight, Kenny and Damien standing up ahead, talking to a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes. Recognition flashed in Avery’s eyes as he realized who that woman was, though it had been the longest time since he’s last seen her.

Kenny was the first to notice Elijah and Avery, raising his hand to wave at them. His action caught the attention of the woman and Damien, both of them looking at who Kenny was waving to, though only one seemed stunned.

“So, what’s boss man doing outside?” Kenny smiled at Avery, “I thought you and the boyfriend were—“

“We decided to go out.” Elijah also smiled, “I wanted to give Avery a reason to spend his money.”

“I thought you were the reason Avery spends his money.”

Avery felt his eye twitch, “He meant clothes. Apparently, I’m not dressed for the vacation.” He glanced down at his own clothing.

Damien chuckled, “You dress like a businessman that’s only here for their work.” He gestured to his own red and black outfit, the sleeveless top and the vest that exposed his muscled pecs. Compared to Kenny and his fuller physique, a man who was more relaxed and wearing a plaid shirt over something emblazoned in Japanese.

“He dresses like that all the time.” Kenny reasoned, “I’m actually glad Elijah’s in his life now because it gives him less time to be broody.”

Avery fixed a hard stare at Kenny, “What do you mean by broody?”

“You’re not a people person.” Kenny began, “You never had been. You have a hard time dealing with people as it is and it’s amazing how you’re able to handle us assholes so well.” He glanced at the woman at his side, noticing how she kept staring at him thoughtfully. “You’re also a workaholic, and so I’m so fucking glad that this little Twink is in the picture and actually helping you be a normal human being. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t even be here.”

Elijah gave Kenny a bright smile, “Then you wouldn’t have found Damien, right?”

Damien moved to hook his arms around Kenny’s waist. “It’s a belief among the demon community, everything that is supposed to happen will come to pass, so your presence here is meant for someone else.”

Avery didn’t answer, his eyes finding the other woman’s, “You look familiar.”

“Avery, speaking of reasons, this is my auntie.” Damien grinned, “It’s a common tradition in my clan that the main line has a D name, this one is named Diana.”

It took a moment for Avery to nod, “Diana…you look just like the maid my father hired to look after me and my sister when we were little.”

“Ah, Avery Lycroft. I never assumed you’d come back to the island.” Diana looked to Damien, shying her eyes away suddenly. “Are you here with your father?”

At the mention of his father Avery looked away, Elijah’s eyes trailing over to his face before he turned to her. “It’d be good if we didn’t talk about his father…”

Diana quirked her head, “Did something happen?” She looked nearly panicked. “Is William alright?”

“He’s just fine.” Avery bit out in a clipped tone. “Whatever he’s doing, he’s probably at work, as he always is.”

The tone of his voice was what seemed to concern Diana the most, “…do you have a strained relationship with William, Avery?”

Elijah winced, looking up at his lover, who just bristled, “It doesn’t matter.” His tone of voice was harsh. “Nothing about him matters. It’s not important.”

The hurt on Avery’s face was visible to the woman standing in front of him, and her own face softened at the sight of that. “You haven’t changed.” She said softly.

“What does that mean?”

Damien smacked Kenny’s arm, pulling him away. Elijah watched them step further from the area, looking at Avery before following after them.

Avery didn’t notice a thing, waiting for the woman to answer. She seemed to look older in only a few seconds, the frown lines on her face exposing her exhaustion.

“I remember you perfectly, Avery. You didn’t like the island, you didn’t like that you weren’t allowed to leave the beach. You sulked in your room most of the time, but I remember that you couldn’t get to sleep unless someone was with you.” She smiled then, “You still can’t sleep without someone at your side, can you?”

The prescription of sleeping pills were on his mind, but he tried not to think about it for too long. He set his bags down, digging into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “I’m not going to confirm or deny that statement.”

The woman watched as he lit up a cigarette, “You’re still uncomfortable being here, I can see it. No matter why you’re here, you wish you weren’t.” She paused for a moment, tilting her head curiously. “Would you mind having some tea with me?”

Avery checked his watch, looking back to see where Elijah was to see him at a sushi stand with Damien and Kenny. “I guess a cup or two wouldn’t hurt.”

“Feel free to invite your companion.” She also glanced over at Elijah, “He seems like someone who relies on you as much as you rely on him.”

Avery finally dropped the cigarette, putting it out with his shoe, looking back at his lover and thinking about what she said.

“You seem observant.”

♥♥♥

Elijah looked around the small room with interest. Full of plants and books, photos of couples and children there was a photo of Damien among them, him as a child next to two parents and the woman herself. Elijah noticed there was a common theme to the photos, the ones with Diana in them: she never smiled.

“I didn't think Demons were so much like humans.” He commented, taking his cup of tea and sipping it.

“The differences between the two races is mostly with their blood.” The woman sat across from them, wrapped in a shawl. “Demons are the ancestral blood of Demi-humans. We were the first, and we possess great aspects because of it. I'm sure Damien explained to you the history of demons and witches.”

“They partnered up to prevent wars,” Elijah answered. “Kenny didn't know either and he’s the heir.”

“Yes, it's a long-standing tradition that surprised me when the previous heir had run away instead of fulfilling her duty. I knew her, she was a strange child. She fought tooth and nail against her fate.”

“Not many people like having their lives planned out for them,” Avery mumbled, crossing his leg over his knee. “Duty or not.”

“Sorry, ” Elijah frowned, “Avery is--”

“You don't have to apologize for Avery. I understand his reasons for what he says.” Diana stood up, making her way to a small drawer near the bookshelf. “Given who his father was, he has the right to express how he feels. But I wouldn't blame your father for his misgivings, ” She took out a box, wiping a fine sheen of dust away. “He was a misunderstood man, and I have a feeling he never ceased to be such.”

Avery took a sip of his tea, calmly watching her. “I remember, you often conversed with my father. Hi. Being misunderstood as you call it doesn't forego the fact that he wasn't there for me or my sister.”

Diana sat back down, nodding quietly. “It was hard for you...but it was hard for him also. He was distant, was he? Overprotective? He sent you away to boarding school.”

“How do you know all that?”

Diana smiled sadly, “he would write to me, but even then those letters would lessen in quantity before they took stopped. I'm afraid he was in too much pain to go on further and worked to distract himself from a broken heart.”

Avery frowned, “What would he have to be sad about? My father is rich. He can have anything he wants.”

“Not really...everything.”

There was a moment of silence, Elijah took his cup and watched Avery’s blank expression. It was like he was trying to piece out a puzzle.

“What couldn't he have?” Avery asked.

“Your mother.”

Elijah nearly dropped his cup, “Avery told me his mother was dead.”

“That...was what William wanted his children to believe.” Diana looked down, feeling the box. “To spare them the pain.”

Elijah had to snatch Avery’s cup away from him as it began to tremble too hard. “My mother is alive?” His voice was quiet, but it sounded enraged.

“Avery.”

Avery stood up before he could do anything, taking out his cigarettes again to shakily pull one out. As he lit it, his fingers fumbled with the lighter, nearly dropping it. “Why did my father lie to us about our mother?”

Diana waited, “He fell in love with a woman that was promised to another man. An arraigned marriage that she didn't want. They were forced to keep their love a secret.”

“Some fucking secret that ended up with twins.” He scoffed.

Elijah took a hold of his sleeve, looking over at Diana as she looked saddened by the outrage. “The pregnancy would have resulted in something awful, your mother had to hide it as her husband’s doing. Though, when it was time to give birth, she passed on her children as stillborn to her husband and had them taken to William to be kept safe. He didn't know what to do with two babies, and he wanted to let their mother in on their lives as much as possible, so he bought property here in Calyss, a little beach house. From there, he hired your mother on as a maid so she could spend time with them...and continue loving her.” She looked up at him finally, opening the box and pulling out photos, many with Diana and William. “As for him being distant...he told me long after sending you to boarding school that being near the two of you was too painful, as it only reminded him of the one person he couldn't have.”

Avery dropped his cigarette, and Elijah hurried to grab it so he could snuff it out. He grasped onto Avery’s arm, which began to shake. He eased Avery back onto his chair, looking from him to Diana back to him. Avery was having trouble talking, opening his mouth and shutting it, realizing his throat had become dry. He tried to swallow, starting at Diana...his mother...only finding that it was getting harder to breathe. He shot to his feet suddenly, saying nothing before heading to the door and leaving quickly.

“Avery!” Elijah stood up when he left, turning to the woman. “I’m sorry--he’s in shock. I need to--”

“I understand.” Diana smiled at him, a hint of pain in her eyes. Elijah pursed his lips together, turning to go after him.

“Avery!” Elijah stumbled out into the garden, increasing his footsteps in the direction he assumed Avery went to, finding him pacing the road, running his hands through his hair as he was slowly breaking down. Elijah trotted over to him, slowing to a stop and clasping his hands behind his back. “Are you going to be okay?”

Avery grasped his hair. “How can I be okay after this? My mother isn't dead. My mother is a demon. I'm a demon. My sister--” He gasped for air. “Everything I know is a fucking lie. My father lied to me! My mother isn't dead! She never died at birth she--” His resolve began to crumble and a sob broke through, and soon Avery stopped pacing, collapsing to the ground. Elijah hurried over to him, kneeling next to his lover and grasping his sleeve.

“Deep breaths,” Elijah said calmly. “Deep breaths, okay?”

Avery attempted to breathe deeply, only to start crying, reaching out to grasp Elijah and cling to him for dear life.

Elijah only hummed softly, holding Avery’s head against his chest. The last thing he wanted to see was his boyfriend having a breakdown when he was the strongest of the two.

It was Elijah’s turn to be the strong one.

♥♥♥

The sun was setting as Elijah led Avery into the house, the taller of the two not saying anything and mainly staring at the floor as they crossed the living room. It was Isiah who saw them first, noticing how terrible Avery looked and heading over to them.

“Gee boss, ya look somthin’ awful. Who died?”

Avery stopped walking, his head moving up so their eyes met. “You’re fired.” He growled out in a scathing tone.

Isiah stepped back, bewildered as Elijah got between them. “Hey, Avery? No.” He glanced back at Isiah, “He didn’t mean that, just keep your distance for a while.” He grasped Avery’s arm and pulled him towards the stairs, “I’ll have Jacques make you something…”

From the couch, Willow lowered her manga, peering over the top and over to the two retreating bodies, her eyes moving on to Isiah. She said nothing, only shaking her head in thought.

“Something must’ve happened.” Isiah tried not to overthink it, despite the fact that he was going to anyway. “Did he really just fire me?”

“Ion know dood.” Willow commented, “He’s lashing out, he probably doesn’t care about what he’s saying now.”

“Makes you wonder what happened—“

Shelby stumbled down the stairs, “Avery just fired me!” She was nearly in tears, going over to her friends in alarm. “All I told him was hi and he yelled at me!”

“Same thing happened to me.” Isiah tried to put a consoling hand on her shoulder but she shook it off, wiping the tears from her face.

Willow frowned, “I wouldn’t take what he says to heart, something seems to be wrong.”

“That’s what Elijah told me too but it still hurt.” Shelby finally sat down at the couch, “If he makes me cry again I’m going to stab him.”

“What have I told you about stabbing people?”

“Don’t announce it beforehand.”

“Yuh.”

As Isiah opened his mouth to speak the door swung open and Jaden walked in carrying six bags. “Guess who just got treated like a fuckin’ princess.”

Willow and Shelby were on Jaden in an instant, “Where did all of these bags come from?”

Jaden smiled cooly at the two of them, “He insisted on buying me a few things.”

“A few things my ass, that’s a whole wardrobe!” Shelby began looking through the bags, “All of this stuff is expensive.”

“Don’t go searching my bags like you’re some kind of police officer.” Jaden pulled herself away, hearing Isiah make an indignant cough.

“I think you owe us a fashion show.” Shelby insisted, “I want to see.”

“I hope you left him with cab fair after you drained his wallet.” Willow said as she eyed the boutique bags.

“Cab fare? No no, you don’t understand, this man has enough money to buy him the whole damn company.”

Willow made a low whistle and Shelby’s jaw dropped.

“He’s rich?”

“I’ll tell you the deets while I show you my shit, come on.” She grinned widely, her and Shelby heading up the stairs and leaving Isiah alone.

“I’ll be right up.” Willow said to them, making her way to the couch to retrieve her manga. The one man in the room only watched on, folding his arms.

“What’s with this island full of rich people?” He asked himself more than Willow, looking towards the door as Renzo and Thomas stumbled though, both of them soaking wet. Willow stopped what she was doing, looking on with a quirked brow.

“Holy shit, what happened to the two of you?” Isiah was the one to inquiry, the only one who was curious.

“Just bro stuff, ya know.” Thomas waved his hand before dusting the sand from his chest.

“ _Bro stuff_.” Isiah looked skeptical, raising a brow along with Willow. “What kind of _bro stuff_?”

“Man, just bro stuff.” Renzo said, “It’s like…ya know, we were at the shore right? Thomas decided to splash me and so I decided ‘well this is war’ so I splashed him back. So he decided to do it back. Back and fourth and back again and then I thought ‘well this fuckin’ sucks’ so I full-on tackled him in the water.”

“Then we started wrestling, yeah? Just simple bro stuff.” Thomas ended, smiling through his teeth. “Let’s take a shower.”

Willow was silently watching them, taking mental notes in her head and making her way next to Isiah as Renzo and Thomas broke into a run up the stairs. The two watched on, exchanging looks with each other.

“Sus.”

“You can’t tell me that’s suspicious.”

“Ion know, playing in water is totally a couples ting. Note they also said ‘let’s take a shower’.”

“They didn’t imply that they were taking it together.”

“Okay buddy.”

With that, Willow made her way upstairs, leaving Isiah alone. The black man placed his hands over his face, sighing.

“My life is a goddamn anime I swear to the Lord up above.”

♥♥♥

It was late at night and only three people in the beach house were left awake. One of them laying in their bed staring at the ceiling until she got tired of it. The woman sat up, getting out of her bed to go to the window, looking out at the beach below. The moon was full that night, bright and illuminating the sands in a white light. The shadows brought on by rocks and other items was a stark contrast to whatever was touched by the soft light. If she focused hard enough she could make out the shapes of the fish under the crystalline waters. Everything smelled like the ocean, it made her content and happy.

The water sparkled in certain angles, rolling onto the shore before returning to the depths. Shelby could make out a sparkling item that the water had left on the shore, something that shone brighter in the moonlight than the water itself. She looked on, becoming curious before moving away from the window. She made her way downstairs, ignoring the soft light of the kitchen and the distraught man that was smoking at the counter. She was still mad at him, making her way to the door with little to no word and stepping towards the beach. She picked up a little jog to get to where the bright sparkle was, her footsteps imprinting onto the sand in a trail until she stopped. The water licked at her toes and sent a shiver up her spine, her eyes roaming the sands before she dropped to her knees to sift her hands through it, soon uncovering what she had seen before.

A brilliant oyster shell, opalescent in its color. It glittered under the light of the moon and she wondered why. The shell was attached to a cord that was decorated in smaller bits of blue coral, not big enough to be obscene but small enough to look delicate. She looked towards the water, wondering where such a beautiful piece of jewelry came from before brushing her hair aside so she could fasten it around her neck. The shell sat comfortingly between her collarbones.

She was about to stand but a sudden humming stopped her, the woman tilting her head towards the larger rocks near the edge of the beach. She nearly yelled at the sight, quickly clasping her hands over her mouth before spitting out what sand had accidentally fell onto her tongue. She stood up, her eyes trained onto the luxurious fishtail with the fin that was tracing the top of the water. The fishtail that slowly transitioned upward to the human torso attached to it, the human torso that was definitely male, the scales glistening in the light as the skin softly glowed. Shelby blinked, unsure if she was seeing things. He was still there. She shut her eyes again, opening them in hopes that maybe she was asleep. She pinched her wrist, but the merman was still there. With the realization that he was real she let out an excitable giggle, doing her best not to sprint to the rocks.

No, this was a merman. She needed to approach them slowly and calmly lest they would get frightened and swim away.

“No one’s going to believe me.” She said to herself “A whole freakin’ merman.”

As the rocks were halfway submerged in the water, Shelby found herself wading ankle-deep in the ocean. She knew that to get closer she would need to be waist-deep in the water and as of the moment she was wearing her pajama bottoms and a sleep shirt. She debated on it not for even a second before muttering Fuck It and making her way forward. It wasn’t long until the merman caught sight of her, peering at the human woman curiously before realizing who it was. He adjusted himself, sitting up further, but keeping his hand over a part of his hip.

She didn’t shy away when he noticed her, wading further until she could actually touch his tail. She didn’t, placing her hands on the rock instead. “I didn’t know you lived here.”

The man smiled slightly, “I don’t. Whoever owns this area has a barrier up.”

“How did you get through?”

“Jagged rocks.” He said simply, “I’ve seen you before.”

Shelby pointed to herself, “Me?”

“Yes, you. You move in the water like it's your home. I don’t see many land-walkers do that.”

“Well…” She glanced away, “I’ve been swimming since I was little, it’s one of my passions.”

“It shows.” The man smiled, shifting slightly before he winced in pain. Shelby finally noticed what was wrong, the part of himself he was hiding from her eyes. She watched him move his hand away, exposing blood on his hand and a rough slice to his hip. “You’re bleeding!”

The man sighed, “I’m waiting for it to heal.”

The woman frowned, “Come down here, let me help you.”

The merman hesitated, staring at the water, “I think I’m better up here.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“Blood attracts sharks.”

Well, he had a point there. Shelby glanced around the water, suddenly spooked. She tried to think, looking over towards the beach and seeing a towel draped over a beach chair. “Hold that thought.” She waded back onto the beach and hurried to the towel, gripping two different sides to rip the fabric to make a thinner strip before making her way back out, “Close the wound with this.”

The merman caught the towel as it was thrown to him, looking at it and testing it out. “What I need is a better place to sit out of the water.”

Shelby looked along the beach again, seeing a wooden boathouse close by. “Hold on.” She waded back to the beach and made her way to the shed, opening the door only to find what looked like to be a collection of swimming gear. “Holy shit.” She breathed, finding a line of jet skis that were floating on the water where the floor of the shed had ended. She laughed nervously at the sight, not knowing such a collection was here as she made her way back out. She made a mental note about the free-swimming flippers as she made her way to the rocks again. “I found somewhere you can go.”

The man’s head perked her way, then followed her finger towards the boathouse.

♥♥♥

Shelby managed to gather a first-aid kit and bandages inside the boathouse, carrying them over to the merman and kneeling down to take care of his wound. He was resting above water, having managed to drag himself far enough that his fin was an inch over the resting waters. “I hope you won’t dry out.” She said after bandaging him up. “Don’t you need to be inside water?”

The merman smiled at her, “Not really. We can breathe air just as you can. For now I need the wound to heal before I can swim, I don’t trust whatever may be out there.”

The way he said it meant there was something out there that Shelby wasn’t aware of. Perhaps that’s why Avery’s dad installed the net…but the merman managed to get past it… She tried not to think about it more than she had to, going back to the fact that she was talking to a fucking merman. “Are there others like you out there?”

He nodded, “Millions, our culture varies depending on what part of the sea we’re from… though I hear freshwater folk are a bit more sensitive than saltwater folk. If you go further south the language gets heavier.”

“Jesus.” She breathed. “Merpeople have always existed and I’m just finding out?” She crossed her legs, looking back into the water. “Oh—where are my manners? My name’s Shelby.”

“Ah, I’m Morskoi.”

“Morskoi.” Shelby repeated to herself.

“Your dialect is a tad bit off but I’ll accept it.” He smirked at her, causing the woman to blush and look away.

_He’s a fucking fish. He’s a hot fucking fish,_ she thought, trying to casually glance at his groin. _Where’s his dick? Does he have a dick? Fuck._

“So do you live around here?” She asked, drowning out the sound of her thoughts.

“I actually live somewhere further east, though I did stay at a city near this land. The queen is…interesting, to put it lightly—“

“There’s a QUEEN?” She nearly cried out her shock. “You guys have Queens?”

Morskoi looked amused, “Don’t you?”

Shelby thought about it, “Well there’s a British monarchy but nothing like that exists here.” She leaned in slightly, taking in how he looked. His hair was short, and his eyes were dark. There was a tattoo on his right arm, which made her wonder how one could get a tattoo underwater before swatting away the thought. He looked built for his figure, but the most important question was running in circles through her mind.

_Fish dick fish dick fish dick._

“So if you don’t live close by, why did I find you here?”

The question seemed to catch Morskoi off-guard, the man keeping silent for a moment before staring straight at her and flashing her a charming smile. “You have the loveliest eyes.”

His ruse seemed to work, and Shelby instantly covered her face in a shy bout of self-consciousness, the woman literally screaming on the inside. “I need to go back inside everyone must be asleep you probably need sleep I’ll see you later.” She got to her feet quickly, heading out of the boathouse.

She was halfway to her room when she suddenly stopped.

_Wait a minute, he tricked me. The fucker evaded my question with a compliment. God I’m so dumb._

She ran her fingers through her hair, glowering out the window.

“I’ll get you back, you hot sexy fish man.” She muttered to herself before returning to her room.

♥♥♥

She made sure to get up early so she could go check on Morskoi, and in the back of her head she wondered, what did mermen eat? They lived underwater, so did that mean they survived off of fish? Fish was a good answer, but what kind? Obviously fresh fish, there was no way to heat up fish underwater, not in any way that she knew of. Cooked fish was probably not an option, seared, grilled, or otherwise.

The safest bet was to get him some sushi, as it had both raw fish and seaweed. As she looked into the fridge, she could see fresh fillets that Jaques had taken out, and with that idea she shut the door and searched for the French cook. It didn’t take long to find him, as he was sitting out on the patio, enjoying some tea while scrolling through his phone. His eyes noticed movement and he looked away from his phone, smiling at Shelby.

“Ah, good morning.” He said kindly.

Shelby pulled on a bright smile, “Good morning, are you busy?”

The man checked his watch, “Technically I’m on the clock for whenever someone needs something, do you want me to cook you anything?”

She pressed her hands together, “Can you make me sushi please? I saw that you had some fish and I would make it myself but I don’t know where everything is.”

Jaques nodded, slowly standing and leaving behind his tea. “If you’d like, I can gather what you need and you can make it.”

“Oh I would love that!” She kept up with his pace, “The last thing I want is for you to do it all for me.”

The man laughed softly, going to a cupboard to take out a rice cooker. “I’m enjoying this week, most of you wish to cook for yourself. I feel like I’m on my own vacation as well.”

“Some of us just feel uncomfortable doing nothing. We didn’t grow up rich.”

“Mhm, you sound like Master Avery when he was younger.”

Shelby tilted her head in curiosity, “Avery?”

“Yes, he was a small child but he insisted on doing everything himself. One day when Master William was out I took him aside and taught him how to make coffee.”

Her eyebrows rose, “Is that how he became so knowledgeable?”

Jaques nodded, “I managed to get him some special decaffeinated beans due to his age but he became fascinated with the entire process. How to grow them, the best blends, he even sent me photos of his coffee farm back on the mainland.”

“He grew his own beans?”

“He still does.” Jaques said kindly, “If you take a close look at the beans in his cafe, they’re from a little farm he had managed to acquire. I help manage the farm when I’m not on the island.”

“Oohhhh.”

He took out the bag of rice next, setting it with the rice cooker. “He became infatuated with coffee, mostly because he had nothing else to do whilst on this island. Master William didn’t let him wander, and the Master was out often. Our maid at the time, Diana, she would help him study to keep his mind off of his absent father.”

Shelby frowned, moving to the rice cooker so she could plug it in. “Avery was lonely wasn’t he?”

“That he was. He only had us staff. If we didn’t have anything to distract him with, he would have been brooding in his room. Diana didn’t like it.” He stopped with his search and motioned her to follow him, taking Shelby to the other side of the kitchen where a larger cupboard was displayed. He opened the doors and exposed a grandiose coffee grinder. With it was a milk steamer and an espresso machine, all of them polished so well that Shelby could see her reflection in the metal.

“Holy cow.” She reached out to touch it but stopped herself, not wanting to get them dirty with prints. “This is like something about Avery that no one else knows about.” She looked at Jaques, “He never talks about his childhood…or his life at all for that matter.”

The older man nodded in understanding, “I wouldn’t doubt that, Master Avery’s a private person. Not like Missus Runa, she will drop information like a flip of a switch.” He shut the doors and took her back to where he was prepping her food, finding the seaweed and laying it out for her. “Do you need anything else, madame?”

Shelby looked along the island, seeing nothing else she needed and shaking her head. “I think I got it here, thank you.”

“Any time.” The man bowed slightly, going back to his spot on the patio.

So Avery combatted his loneliness by learning about coffee…

Shelby smiled sadly at the thought, feeling herself tear up at the thought. It put into perspective his hesitance about coming here, and what had happened the night before. She had never seen Avery look so anguished, and he took it out on anyone who tried to help him. A tear escaped her and she sniffled, brushing it away. She hoped that Elijah could do something to support him, if he could. She didn’t know how it felt to have a distant parent, both her mother and her father were the best people. Sure her father was ten years younger than her mother, but they didn’t seem to care. Her mother even wrote a book on how they met, a best seller.

Thankfully her grandmother wasn’t anywhere near her, or she’d be telling her to get kosher ingredients. She had to be happy that her mother wasn’t as strict as her grandma.

_“God can see everything you’re doing outside of the house, but not your parents. What we don’t know won’t hurt you, go wild.”_ Her father told her this before she went off to college.

_I’m making sushi for a hot merman I’m hiding inside the boathouse. How wild is that?_

When Shelby was done making the sushi she placed everything in the dishwasher, taking the plate with her as she made her way out of the house and towards the boathouse. Today she was strategically wearing a bathing suit under her clothes just in case she had to get wet again.

“I’m back.” She called out as she opened the door with one hand, closing it with her foot as she stepped further into the room.

“Welcome back!”

Before her was Morskoi, though instead of a tail he had legs. On top of that he was naked.

Fully naked.

Shelby let out a surprised cry, the plate slipping from her hands as her arms rose. A curse passed through her lips as she remembered the sushi and did her best to save as much as possible from falling to the floor. She was left with a half-empty plate, the other half of the sushi dotting the floor around her like fallen soldiers.

“WHY DO YOU HAVE LEGS?” She nearly screamed.

Two hours later Isiah was making his way down to the first floor, scratching his head as he tried to think. Down in the living room was Jaden and Willow, one of them decked out in new clothes and staring at the clock as her left leg bounced nervously off her right knee.

“You’re getting nervoius.” Willow couldn't help but smile. “What are you two going to do today?”

“He wants to take me on a date.”

“Weren't you on a date yesterday?”

“When I told him I was only here for the week he said he wanted to make the most of it.”

“That’s cute. He must really like you.”

“I like him too, but that's the problem. I feel like I'm going to throw up.”

“Ouh?” Willow tilted her head, “You like him but you want to throw up.”

“Do you know how hard it is being alone with this perfect-ass man when I'm...me? I still don't know what he sees in me but at the same time I will throw down if he eyes up another hoe. It's nerve-wracking.”

“Aw, Jaden has a crush.” Isiah commented in a sweet tone.

“Shut the fuck up clown.”

Isiah shrugged off the comment, proceeding to look around the room for something. Willow watched him, mildly interested.

“What’chu looking for?”

“My joggers...and my favorite MHA shirt. I could sworn I had it with me...but they’re missing.”

“They’re not in your room?”

Isiah frowned. “I looked in every drawer, nothing.”

“There has been a theft.”

“Yeah but who could it be?” Isiah looked at Jaden, frowning. “It’s really starting to piss me off.”

“Sucks to be you, anyway,” Jaden turned to Willow, putting her hands together, “Please, please PLEASE come with me today.”

“Is that really what you want?” Willow questioned, “I take it you just want someone else to help take the pressure off.”

Jaden looked desperate, nodding. There was a moment of silence before Willow shrugged freely, gathering her tablet.

“I didn’t really have anything else planned for today so I guess I could come with you, but as soon as I see him make any kind of bedroom eyes I’m going to be gone faster than you can blink.”

Jaden smiled slightly, “That’s enough for me.”

Isiah, having been ignored all this time, was elbow deep in the laundry basket before he heard the door knocker. “Coming.” He removed himself from the room and headed to the door, opening it to see the man they were discussing, the lean and tall presence that was wearing gold. A six-foot-five presence with eyes that seemed to match his color scheme and long black dreads that fell perfectly in place. Isiah looked Domino up and down, whistling lowly.

“You’re the dude Jaden’s been seeing? It’s like looking into a mirror—“ He cried out as he was suddenly shoved so hard that he nearly tripped on his feet.

“Don’t listen to the clown he’s just looking for his red nose.” Jaden bit out before flashing Domino a sincere smile, “Good morning!”

Domino blinked, somewhat confused by what had happened before shrugging it off and smiling back at her. “I see you’re ready for today.”

“Damn.” Willow stepped up to Jaden’s side, looking Domino over, “That’s all I have to say, damn.”

“This is my friend Willow, you don’t mind if she comes with us today, do you?”

Domino flashed Willow a smile and took her hand, kissing the top of it. “Pleased to meet you, Willow.”

“Damn—I mean, uh, pleased to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Ah, I’ve also heard a lot about you…as well as this clown boy I keep hearing about, was that man him just now?”

“Shall we go?” Jaden stepped out to the patio, ignoring the glare that Isiah was giving her from the other side of the door. Willow followed, waving at Isiah.

“Bye.”

“Bring me back something.”

Willow rolled her eyes, “No promises, dood.”

As the door shut again Isiah sighed, “You know you could get something if you’d just man up and go into town by yourself.” He said in a slightly different tone of voice.

“I know that, it’s just no fun going by myself. I wanna go with a friend.”

“Everyone’s already paired up, you’re as lonely as the Curiosity rover.”

“I’m not lonely, I have you.”

“I wouldn’t go advertising that in public.”

Isiah sighed, moping for a moment before straightening up, “Now where are my damned clothes?

♥♥♥

The weather, immaculate as always, never ceased to sour. Willow had to put on shades to keep the sun out of her eyes, looking along the public beach as Domino and Jaden were talking about what they were going to do that day.

“AHAHAHA”

“WOO!”

A curious sight stopped Willow in her tracks, her attention moving to the public beach, where two men were holding each other’s hands while spinning in a circle. After a moment of staring, she realized it was Renzo and Thomas, the two of them keeping up pace as they laughed and carried on as if no one was watching.

Except for that people were watching, a handful of people at that. Willow narrowed her eyes in thought and added this to her list.

“Sus.” She said to herself.

“Willow?”

The woman finally looked away from the display, hurrying to catch up with the others. “I’m here.”

“I thought perhaps we could go to the aquarium and the museum.”

“There’s an aquarium?” Willow questioned, “Avery never mentioned that.”

“Avery never mentioned a museum either.” Jaden joined in, looking confused. “What else is on this island that we don’t know about?”

“A national forest that, from what I’ve heard, is the home of a very old ancestral village.” Domino began to count, “Then there’s the scenic waterfalls and the botanical gardens…there is also a major city on the other side of the island, but I prefer this town. There’s less people…” He tilted his head in thought and began to lead them to a vehicle.

Jaden looked at Willow, “Do you think the ancestral village is Kenny’s family?” She asked in a hushed voice.

“Clan Rosales I think, but didn’t Damien say that the fox tribe nearly wiped them out?”

“Poor Kenny.”

“What’s Clan Rosales?” Domino questioned, breaking into their whispers.

“Uh—a story one of our friends told us.” Willow told him, “An old family on the island, nothing important.”

They reflected back onto the day they all went into the forest, both coming to the conclusion that they have already been close to the village before they were spirited away by Rhys.

“If he wasn’t dead I’d kick him.”

The three of them gathered into a black car that had a driver that seemed to be waiting for them. It was spacious enough for at least six people to sit in the back, but it wasn’t big enough to be a limousine. Jaden rolled her eyes.

“Your boojee is showing.” She said to Domino, who suddenly checked his pockets for his wallet.

“I don’t see anything, what’s a boojee?”

That made the two women laugh, further confusing Domino.

“I’ll never understand American slang.” He said finally, folding his arms.

“So…you’re from Britain by the accent.” Willow pointed out, “Are you British then?”

“I’m not British, no, but I am a citizen of Britain due to my mother. I grew up in a UK boarding school for the most part of my child and young-adult life. It’s a second home to me.”

“What brings you here all the way to Calyss?” Jaden asked, “This island is a long ways away from the UK.”

“Ah…” Domino looked hesitant at first, seemingly thinking. “Holiday, just as you.”

Willow took notice of how long it took for him to say that, setting it aside for now.

It wasn’t long until they were at the front gates to the aquarium. Domino placed on sunglasses before stepping out of the car, followed by Willow and Jaden. Waiting for their passes didn’t take long, as Domino paid for all three of them. He took Jaden’s hand as he led her into the aquarium. “Where do you want to go first?”

Jaden looked everywhere, not knowing where to go first. She thought about it, her eyes widening, “Do they have sea cows?”

Willow caught the question, holding in a small laugh that Domino didn’t understand. He looked to the woman, curious. “Is something funny?”

“Ah—“ Willow glanced at Jaden, watching the woman shake her head quickly before shrugging, “I dunno.”

Domino watched her for a moment with a scrutinizing look, looking away after that and sighing. “Sea cows it is.” He picked up a map of the aquarium, looking along the list and pointing them in a certain direction. “This way.”

Jaden looked excited, following close by as Willow trailed behind them, the woman looking at everything they passed, taking out her phone to take some photos of tropical fish.

Domino was smiling somewhat, leading the way until something red caught his eye. He looked over to the left, seeing something purple as well, surrounded by a flock of people. Panic slowly etched in his features and he stopped, grasping Jaden’s hand. “Er—this way’s a shortcut!” He said quickly, pulling her into a different direction.

“Oh!”

Willow blinked, looking down the crowded area and to where Domino went, hurrying after them. As they entered a killer whale exhibit Willow stopped, looking back to see two garish-looking men, their hair dyed an alternating color of red and purple. They looked to be gawking at specific sea-creatures, pointing wildly at them and making obnoxious noises. She quirked a brow before deciding not to care, hurrying after Domino and Jaden to catch up with them.

Domino seemed to relax slightly as they settled in the depths of the tunnel exhibit, watching Jaden and Willow take photos of the whale that passed the glass. The two women were up close to the window, looking at the creature in their own different sort of awe.

“Hey do you think?”

“Is that him?”

Domino felt his ears burning, glancing aside to see two visitors stare at him. He groaned and went over to Jaden, catching her hand. “Let’s go.” He said in a hushed voice.

“Wait but I’m not read—“ She didn’t have time to finish her sentence, stumbling after Domino as he hurried her away from the tunnel. Willow was starting to look annoyed, looking back to what he was avoiding to see two buxom blonde women that looked obviously like tourists. She pursed her lips together and looked away, moving to follow them.

“This is getting stupid.”

It was like that for a good forty minutes. They would settle at an exhibit, then Domino would pull them away to a new one. It was like Domino was playing hide and seek with someone but he wouldn’t say who. Jaden noticed about halfway through that he seemed to be avoiding someone, while Willow was getting impatient and slowly ticked off. It was on the second sight of the two men clad in red and purple that Domino had finally pulled them out of the aquarium quickly before anyone had a say about it.

By the time they were in the car again, Domino finally relaxed, slumping back against the seat and taking a breath.

Willow stayed quiet, tapping her foot against the floor in annoyance while Jaden watched Domino decompress. “What shit were you pulling back there, taking me places only to bounce twenty seconds later? You ran us out of there like your pants were on fire. What was that all about?” Asked Jaden.

“Ah…nothing to be concerned with.” Domino straightened himself out, brushing some dreads behind his shoulder. When he was met with a scrutinizing look from Willow he seemed to recoil. “There was just…someone there that I didn’t wish to deal with.” He said evasively.

“Mhm.” Willow thought back to every recurring person, which was a plethora of people. “More than one.”

Domino ignored that and looked to Jaden, “Either way, it won’t happen again. Would you like to go to the museum?”

“Actually could we go back home?” Jaden didn’t look ready to go anywhere else.

“Pardon?”

“Home, Domino. I want to go back.”

There was an agonizing minute of silence as Domino took that in, mostly her tone of voice. “…right.” He said then, sighing.

The drive back to the private beach house was a long and quiet one, no-one wishing to say anything and Domino afraid of ruining anything even further. By the time they had gotten to where they started, Jaden and Willow got out first, Domino following close.

“When should I…?” He began, until Jaden turned back to him.

“I’ll call you, okay?”

He looked a little pained at the words but nodded, stepping back towards the car. “I do hope so.”

As the two women parted from Domino, heading back to the beach house property, they passed two curious looking people. Shelby walking alongside a man they’ve never seen before, both of them heading for the town down the road.

The sight of the man had both women stop, and Shelby, at the sight of her two friends, jumped, hiding herself behind the man’s wider build.

“Eep.”

“Don’t try to hide your flat ass behind your mans.” Jaden called out, “We can still see you.”

Shelby peeked out behind Morskoi’s arm, smiling nervously, “Tee-hee, you found me.”

“Tee-hee huh?” Jaden folded her arms, “I’ll tee-hee you across the ocean.”

“Who’s the guy?” Willow questioned.

Shelby glanced at the man next to her and extended that nervous smile, “Um, this is Morskoi, he’s a—“

“Visitor.” Morskoi said before she could continue, “I’m visiting the island.”

“This place sure seems to get a lot of tourist attraction.” Willow said then, checking her phone, “Well, Imma going to get apple juice and take a nap. I need one after what we’ve been through.” She began walking ahead, Shelby and Jaden watching her leave.

“Uh, is there something wrong?” Shelby asked with concern, “Where’s Domino?”

Jaden sighed, “Girl, it’s a long-ass story and I need some time to process it.”

“Oooh, I smell tea.” The blonde seemed to perk up, “Let’s talk about it tonight, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need a phat nap right now. Later.”

Both Shelby and Morskoi watched Jaden leave, the taller male looking confused as he turned his attention back to Shelby. “I don’t smell tea, where is it?”

“HA!” A loud laugh burst out of Shelby before she covered her mouth, “Um…it’s uh—“ She turned back to him, reaching up to pat his head. “You’re so cute.”

“I would think you’re the cuter one, Shel.” The man gave her a smile and Shelby swore her face became twice as hot, the woman quickly shying her head away.

“Damnit, you win this time.”

“I win what?” He asked, taking her hand only to pull it to his hand to kiss her fingers. “You have the prettiest hands.”

_Oh god he’s a himbo,_ Shelby thought to herself, pulling her hand away. “You only had sushi today did you, and not that much since the rest fell on the floor.”

“I could have eaten those.” Morskoi frowned.

“Oh honey, no.” Shelby began walking again, “You have no clue about eating customs above water do you? We do not eat from the floor.”

“I don’t see why not.”

Shelby pointed at her shoes, “Because we put our shoes and feet on the floor, floors get dirty. They’re not places to eat from.”

Morskoi tilted his head, “But what if you pick up the food?”

“No, because floor stuff sticks to the food.”

“What if you wash it off?”

Shelby slapped her hand over her face, “You sound like Renzo.” She groaned, “The five second rule doesn’t count.” She stopped walking suddenly, feeling Morskoi nearly run into her. “I can’t take you to a restaurant.” She fretted to herself. “Uh…how do you feel about take-out?”

“Take it out where?”

She grabbed his hand to lead him along, he’s so fucking hot and so fucking dumb at the same time. I love him so much.

The two of them walked to a food stall that was selling churros, in which Morskoi stopped to smell the cinnamon wafting through the air. “That smells nice.”

Shelby took one look at the stall, smiling at him. “Do you want one? They’re called churros.”

“Yeah.”

The blonde pulled out her wallet, paying the vendor for a fresh piece. “Don’t eat it too fast.”

Morskoi bit into it, chewing thoughtfully for a moment before his eyes lit up. “This is so much different than what I usually have. Why haven’t I come onto land sooner?”

The two of them moved away from the food stall. “This island seems to have a mix of Spanish and Hawaiian food. I hear people call this island the Hawaii of the south and maybe that’s why it’s become that way.” She watched him eat happily, “If you can walk on land, why haven’t you before?”

Morskoi thought about his answer, swallowing his food. “Dunno, just never felt the need to explore the dry land until now.” He inhaled, smelling something different, “Your food options seem wider than ours.” He looked the other direction, towards the public beach and the ocean that lay there, smirking at a sudden thought and looking back at Shelby, mainly the shell necklace she wore. “Maybe here I won’t be hunted.”

“Hunted?” She looked concerned, “What for?”

The two of them reached a bench, where Morskoi took a seat at. Shelby followed, entirely interested in what he had to say. “My family were part of this little underwater tribe, we specifically were to protect something that the gods had blessed.”

“The gods?”

He nodded, “Yes, we believe in gods, those that created the land and the sea. There was a little legend to us merfolk, that a young one had wanted to do nothing more than be on land, so she prayed to the gods for guidance, and they blessed her with a special oyster that would grant any wish. So she took the pearl from that oyster and wished for her and her children to be able to walk on land.”

Shelby gasped, “So you’re—“

Morskoi nodded, “There’s only a special amount of us that can go on land, and it all stems from that young one. They say she met her beloved on land, but when her children were old enough they had gone back to the sea, only knowing her tales about our world. Those children formed the tribe that I was in, and that special oyster was kept locked away. It was able to produce another pearl.”

“So what happened?”

“The story of the oyster that could grant wishes spread far and soon people were after that oyster. My people would fight in battles to keep our secret safe. Though, it wasn’t until recently that disaster had struck.” He sighed, “There was a Queen in a distant part of the ocean that wanted the oyster, so she sent her finest shark fin warriors to retrieve it. There was a bloody battle, some of us had died from it, but it ended up with the oyster being the biggest casualty.”

Her eyebrows raised, “The oyster was crushed?”

He shook his head. “The oyster was pulled into two, which killed it, but that left three separate items that could grant wishes. My people managed to save two, one shell and the last pearl, and we took it and hid them away, but the sharks managed to get the last shell, which still held the same power. They took it back to the Queen, which she kept for safe keeping inside a treasure room.” He raised his finger to trace the shell on Shelby’s necklace, “Until a fast thief managed to snatch it back from them and swam away as fast as possible.”

Shelby looked down at the shell on her neck, quickly taking the necklace off and staring at it, “You mean this shell grants wishes?”

He nodded, “And I don’t see a better person who could keep it safe than a pretty little land-walker that had taken it upon herself to heal my wounds and feed me when I was hungry.”

Her eyebrows knitted together in worry, “Aren’t you sure I won’t waste the wish on accident?”

A grin formed on Morskoi’s face, “The wish one would have to make would be a desperate wish, you can’t just hold it and wish for something, it needs to be a desire strong enough from the person who holds it. As of right now, it’s safe where it is, and so am I.”

The worry was still there but Shelby slowly placed the necklace back on her neck, still a little unsure but trusting the merman in front of her. “If you think so…” She looked away for a moment, thoughtful. “How am I going to introduce you to the others?”

Morsoki grinned sheepishly, “I don’t mind staying in that room, I’m not ready to meet those people you talk about. They sound…crazy.”

Shelby let out a nervous chuckle, “That’s mostly Kenny, Renzo, and Isiah, but I understand.”

♥♥♥

Elijah left the room that he and Avery shared, looking bothered. He stayed still for a moment, as if debating on leaving until heading downstairs where Isiah was. At the sight of Elijah the man’s head perked up.

“How is he?”

Elijah shook his head, “He won't leave the bed. He won't do anything and the last thing he wants to do is talk to anyone.”

Isiah frowned, “Is it that bad?”

“He just realized that his mother wasn't dead and his whole childhood had been a lie. I think he deserves a little time to himself to think about what he should do next. All I can do is be there to support him.”

“Damn, if that happened to me I think I would be a sobbing mess.”

Elijah took out his phone and looked at the contacts, his eyes hovering on Runa’s name before he looked away.

“I think Runa is already swamped with handling two businesses.” Isiah told him, knowing what he was about to do. “I wouldn't call her.”

“Shit.” Elijah sighed, putting his phone away. “I'm going to have to wait it out.” He turned to go into the kitchen, wanting to find Jaques but only finding Jaden and Willow. He looked around, sighing. “Have you seen Jaques anywhere?”

“Oh he left to go to the market before it closes.” Willow explained. “Is something wrong?”

“How’s Avery?” Jaden asked.

“I forced him to eat and right now he’s sleeping. It seems I can't make him leave the room for now.”

“Well given what had happened I don't think Avery would want to go anywhere else. It was a giant bomb that was dropped on him. His whole life he was under the assumption that his mother had died during his birth and that he was human. Anyone wouldn't take it okay and if they did those would be the people I'd worry about being around the most.” Willow’s tone was serious as she reasoned with Elijah, “Though if he does something rash and out of character I would advise you to seek help. If not Runa then someone else close to him.”

Elijah bit his lip in worry, “If anything happens I’ll ask Jaques.” He eventually let out a tired sigh, pulling up a seat at the table. “This is stressful.”

“More stressful than the fool I’m dealing with?”

“I thought Domino was Mr. Perfect.” Elijah said, “From what I heard…”

“Well there’s been some new…developments.” Willow chose her words carefully before she heard the kitchen doors slam, Shelby hurrying inside.

“I knew tea was being brewed did I miss anything?” She took a seat next to Elijah.

“We were going to tell Elijah about the weird day we had at the aquarium.” Willow explained.

“Oh wow, there’s an aquarium here?” Shelby’s eyes went wide and she grinned. _You got to see fish and I met a whole fricken merman!_ “How was it?”

“Awful.” Willow frowned.

“We never stayed in one place for long, Domino would pull us away just as we were getting into something and we would start going somewhere else. Like he was trying to avoid someone.”

“I checked every time he started to move, I noticed two constants. Either it was two weird looking guys that looked and sounded obnoxious, then it was these two busty blonde women that seemed very interested in him.”

Shelby looked worried. “That’s troubling. Is he trying to hide something from you?”

“Of course he is, the question is, what?” Jaden set her cheek in her hand. “What would he be hiding?”

“Well you mentioned two busty ladies.” Elijah pointed out, “Maybe a hidden girlfriend?”

Jaden cringed, “Ugh…”

“Now, now,” Shelby placed her hands on the table, “You don’t know that. Remember, there were two men …why were they obnoxious?”

“They were loud.” Willow looked exhausted just by thinking about them. “Very loud, practically screaming at the exhibits, but the way they were dressed was what made them stand out. They wore all red and purple, even their hair was colored the same way. Domino acted like he didn’t want them to see him at all.”

“Well, maybe he knows them.”

“That’s obvious.” Elijah said, “The thing you want to know is how he knows them and why was he avoiding them.”

Jaden sighed, “The only way we will know is if I ask him.”

“Then why don’t you?” Shelby questioned.

“I’m afraid to know the answer.”

Elijah cradled his chin in his hands, “You really like him do you?”

“Of course I like him, but I’d like him more if he didn’t hide anything from me.”

“Isn’t that what everyone wants?” Shelby questioned, “Honesty?”

Elijah went silent at the question, thinking about Avery, “I can’t imagine being lied to for so long only to be told the truth so many years later. It would be painful.”

“In Jaden’s case, she only knew the dude for like two days.” Willow looked from Jaden to Elijah, going quiet for a bit before getting up to go to the fridge.

“Two days is enough to mess with a person.” Shelby reasoned, stretching out her arms in front of her, “But twenty-eight years? That’s very harsh.”

Jaden silently agreed, looking at Elijah, “Is Avery going to be okay?”

Elijah looked towards the next room, tapping his fingers against the table before a loud thumping noise caught his attention. He got up quickly, leaving the kitchen. Shelby and Jaden got up afterwards to follow.

Willow was the last one to arrive on the second floor, where Elijah was trying to open the door to Avery’s room. “Avery?” He began to smack the door. “Avery!”

Inside the room, Avery winced at the sound of his lover’s yelling, his phone to his ear as he paced the room. He looked horrible, disheveled in yesterday’s clothes that he had yet to change. His hair was messier than it was before, bags visible under his eyes and his skin paler than it should be. His eyes were rimmed with red from the tears that he shed, in his mouth a cigarette that he had lit up before locking the door. He continued to pace the floor, listening to the ring of the phone as it attempted to connect to the other side. After one failed attempt he redialed the number, becoming agitated quickly as his father took his time in answering a call from his son.

Avery pulled the phone away from his ear, calling for a full video conversation with his father. “Don’t fucking hide from me you asshole.” He muttered under his breath.

His request was soon answered, a man appearing on the display of his phone. An aging man with graying auburn hair, a nearly spitting image of Avery if the man had let himself go from age, save for the man's blue eyes. William seemed surprised to see his son on the other end of the call. _“Avery?”_

“Father.” His voice was rough, “When were you going to tell me my mother wasn’t dead?”

William went silent, staring at his son and his disheveled appearance. He glanced to the side, _“Son, where are you?”_

“I’m on Calyss at the moment.” Avery’s voice rose, “Oh, and I’ve met my cousin. You were never going to tell me that I was born here, that I’m part demon, and that my own mother is alive and well and a full demon. Were you ever planning on telling me any of this or were you going to leave me in the dark?”

William's eyebrows knitted together, _“You told me you hated Calyss, why are you there—“_

“Runa booked us the trip, me and my employees.”

_“I remember Runa saying that she was going to borrow the beach house but I never thought that—“_ William paused, _“You’ve…who told you?”_

“Diana. My mother. You know it says a lot when a stranger cares about you more than your own father to come out with the truth.” He spat.

_“Avery, I didn’t tell you or Runa anything because—“_

“Because she was married to another man? My mother being married to another man doesn’t forgive you for telling your children that she was dead entirely! Do you know what that does to a person? Do you know how many mothers with sons I have seen in my line of work? Do you realize how hard that is on someone who has never had the same type of luxuries?” His voice cracked. “I take it that no, you would never know, but you shoved that feeling onto your children anyway for the sake of a lie.”

William didn’t answer right away, his eyes on Avery. _“Avery…”_

“Does that even give you the right to be absent from your children’s lives entirely? No. It doesn’t give you the right to avoid us to the point that you have to send us away to a fucking private school in another country so you won’t have to think about it either.”

_“There’s a lot of things that I’ve done, and I’m not going to deny that I’ve been…distant. I just can’t bare it. When I look at you, I see your mother’s eyes, when I listen to Runa, I hear your mother’s voice. All I can do is remember Diana and lament on what I couldn’t have.”_

Avery’s eye twitched, “So then you think you’re justified in using money to solve your problems. The only reason Runa spent so much money was for you to actually be a parent and tell her no, and you never seemed to notice. Thank you, for giving us a life where we didn’t have the luxury of having any parents in our lives. All you were to us was just a money lender.”

There was silence after the statement, and Avery took out his cigarette and flicked the ashes in the sink, the man having moved to the bathroom because he knew there were ears at the bedroom door. He watched as William moved, seemingly going to his own doors to shut them and get privacy.

_“Nothing I say can be good enough to earn any forgiveness.”_ William began, _“I understand it’s far too late to beg for your forgiveness, you two are twenty-eight and adults with your own lives, and I was hardly there for you when you were growing up. Keeping Diana a secret from you two was possibly the biggest mistake I’ve made on my part, but as a young newbile father I’ve known beforehand that I wasn’t going to make the best parent. I only beg you that you don’t take this out on Diana. She did the best for you under the circumstances she was under, and I did my best to keep her in your life for as long as I could. I just…”_ William looked away, towards an open window. _“When you fall in love with someone, you’ll come to realize that you get tunnel vision, and all you can see is them.”_

It was Avery’s turn to go quiet, thinking to Elijah and quickly understanding what his father meant. He didn’t reply, pressing end on the call and putting his phone on the counter. A sigh escaped his lips and he ran his fingers through his hair, grimacing with how dirty it felt. Without any word he began to strip himself, tossing his clothes onto the floor and getting into the shower.

Outside of Avery’s room, the girls, crouched at the door, looked at each other when they started to hear the shower running. Shelby was the first to back away from the door.

“Is he…okay?”

“I don’t know.” Elijah pressed his forehead against the door, “He sounded horrible.”

“He never talks to his father.” Willow said knowingly, “He told me himself that he doesn’t talk to him unless he absolutely has to.”

Shelby silently stepped away from the group, heading to the stairs and passing Renzo and Thomas as they began to ascend to the second floor.

“Oh yeah boys, it’s time for some _Rocket League_.” Thomas looked excited.

Jaden turned to them, “You brought a game?”

“Hell yeah we did.” Renzo looked at Thomas with a conspiring grin. “It’s going to be a long night.”

“A long night of what?” Asked Isiah as he walked into the hallway.

“Rocket League, _you know_ …” Thomas repeated, winking at Jaden. “It’s a sleepover for bros. A bro-over. A brover, if you will.”

“Yes I’m going to make all the right moves.” Renzo headed to his door, opening it wide for Thomas. The two of them threw a high-five at each other, Thomas on his way inside the room as Isiah followed, interested in their proposal.

“I’m up for a game or two,” he said in a bright voice.

The two of them began to laugh, “Fuck no, duces.”

The door was slammed into Isiah’s face, and the man only stood there, looking confused before turning to the group behind him. “Did I do something?”

Willow folded her arms, staring at the door. “I’m not sure you want to play their game.”

“Why not?” Isiah looked affronted, “Just because I didn’t bring my games doesn’t mean—“

“Can it, clown.” Jaden cut him off, passing him on the way to her own room. “Unless you want a dick in your ass.”

Isiah blinked, “Wait what?” He turned only to get Jaden’s door shutting in his face. “What was that supposed to mean?” He turned back to Willow, who had already gone to her room and shut the door. He was left with Elijah, the younger man just staring on at Isiah with confusion.

“What?” Isiah asked, quirking a brow.

Elijah opened his mouth and shut it, deciding against saying what was on his mind before the door finally opened from the other side. Elijah took the moment to slip through the crack, shutting the door after him.

Isiah was left alone after that, looking back at Renzo’s door and starting to hear loud music. “Geeze, I’m never invited to anything fun.”

♥♥♥

The sun had already gone down by the time Shelby left the beach house, making her way to the boathouse to check on Morskoi. She stopped halfway, looking along the shore and at the calm water of the ocean. She had a growing want in her heart that she craved to run by Morskoi, as he was a merman and it wasn’t every day that you got to swim with a merperson. It wouldn’t be that bad, would it? The far off ocean was separated from them by a net, no one would interrupt them and night swimming was fun and romantic. She let out a nervous giggle, hovering around the romantic part of it.

Was it sane to fall in love with a merman in only a day or so? Probably not. Did she care? No.

She entered the boathouse with a huge smile on her face, “Get out here, we’re going swimming.”

Morskoi, who was lounging on the boat, perked his head up to look at her, “What?”

“Swimming.” She repeated, “Everyone went to bed for the night and it looks perfectly fine outside for night swimming and I don’t want to waste it.”

The merman slowly sat up, “I’m a wanted fugitive, you know.”

“We’re not going out there.” She gestured to the boathouse door, “Just the area inside the barrier. It’s perfectly safe here.”

He looked hesitant, then thinking about just why he broke into the area anyway. He thought more about it, wondering if it was big enough for those sharks, realizing that he kept it small to begin with. The hesitance slowly melted away and he watched Shelby, feeling her excitement. If he was going to be honest with himself, he wanted to swim with her ever since he had seen her. “I guess a swim won’t hurt.” He said then, smiling slightly.

Shelby’s smile brightened and she clapped her hands together, “I’m gonna go swimming with a hot merman, score!”

“What was that?”

“Oop—“ She turned away quickly, “That was meant to be thought, not said.” _Stupid, stupid._ She took a deep breath, letting out a sigh. _Calm down, take it easy._

“I’m ready.” Morskoi said to her. Shelby perked her head up and turned around, crying out at the sight of him naked before covering her mouth. Her eyes, as she tried to resist, went down to his crotch, seeing the lack of kibbles and bits that a normal human male should have. She must have not noticed that the first time she saw him this way. “Huh.” She said to herself, turning around again. Thankfully she was wearing her bikini under her clothes.

Shelby left the boathouse first already taking off her overclothes and tossing them aside. She looked towards the beach house only to see Renzo’s window dimly lit, which meant he and Thomas were the only two awake so far. She smiled and made her way to the water, slowly getting in. By the time she was waist-deep she dipped herself further, swimming away from the shore and turning just in time to see Morskoi running across the sand to jump into the water. As soon as the liquid touched his skin his legs began to shine with luminescent scales. His human legs were gone in an instant, replaced with his shining cerulean tail. He quickly swam over to Shelby and around her in one swooping move, the woman laughing as she turned to catch up with him. He extended his arm and she took hold of his hand, the merman leading her towards a deeper part of the ocean property.

Morskoi was having fun, his moves like a fluid ballet under the water. Shelby was also having fun swimming with him, forgetting where she was and anything else that was on her mind that night. When Morskoi pulled her down, Shelby held her breath, the two floating under the water. Shelby gave him a smile and Morskoi leaned closer to her, cupping her cheek with one hand before closing the gap and kissing her. Her breath was stolen away in that kiss, but she was still able to breathe, closing her eyes as her hair and his tail floated around them. Eventually, he let go, and Shelby had to resurface for air, watching as Morskoi came up to join her. The two shared a breathless laugh before something tugged Morskoi under. The merman cried out, and Shelby’s eyes widened as she reached for him.

“Koi!”

“Shel--” Morskoi was pulled under again and Shelby took a breath before diving under the water, seeing the culprit. It looked to be a merman yet his head and bottom half was that of a shark. He had Morskoi by his tail, pulling him towards the torn opening that was once the nearby net. Shelby made a sound and grasped Morskoi by his arms, trying to pull Morskoi in a different direction until the mershark realized why he was getting more resistance than he was getting before. He opened his mouth and shouted something, words Shelby couldn’t make out.

“Shel, get away!” Morskoi shouted, his voice sounding muddled under the water. His eyes were on the necklace she had on her. Shelby realized what he was looking at, but as she grasped the oyster shell she shook her head.

_I can’t leave you behind!_

Another mershark appeared from behind the torn net, zeroing in on the necklace that Shelby was wearing. He growled something out to the other shark, which seemed to be a language only they could speak. Shelby swam up to catch her breath, looking around and realizing how far they were from the shore.

_I can’t get help._

Down below, Morskoi whipped his tail wildly, effectively batting the mershark away from him as he tried to get closer to Shelby. The woman took another breath and swam forward to reach him, only for the one shark to open his jaw wide and clamp around Morskoi’s tail. The merman let out a pained howl, and Shelby was a witness to the blood seeping out from the wound. Her eyes went wide at the sight, her hand clenching tighter around the shell.

_No! This can’t happen!_

The second shark took that moment to grab Shelby by the leg, pulling her down further into the water before launching up and grasping at the shell in her hand. There was a struggle, Shelby refusing to let it go while the shark did his damndest to wrench it from her grip.

_Let go! I promised him!_

Amidst the struggle Shelby was using her feet to kick the shark’s abdomen, trying to bat him away. He growled and barred his teeth, but the blonde didn’t give in, even if she was starting to lose her breath. Her eyes weren’t on the shell, but on Morskoi, who was doing his best to get out from the shark’s grip, but every twist and turn only hurt him further.

The shark on Shelby began to become fed up, reaching out with his other hand to grasp her by the throat. It effectively made her lose what little oxygen she had, the shark doing so in hopes that she would loosen her grip on the shell. She didn’t, clenching her teeth and gripping it even harder.

_I can’t do anything, I’m helpless here. I’m going to die, Koi’s going to die. This isn’t what I want. I want to help him. I want to fight back._

The lack of oxygen was starting to affect her, and Shelby began to feel her lungs constricting. She gasped out only for more water to fill her up. She was drowning, she was losing air. She couldn’t breathe and her life was fading from her.

_Please, I want to be a mermaid—_

Shelby’s eyes fluttered shut as the shell in her hand began to crack and shatter. The shark looked displeased and grimaced, letting go of the human and looking on as she sank further down.

“SHEL!” Morskoi’s voice carried through the water.

Her heartbeat began to slow, steadying out a few beats per second. As her foot touched the rocks below, warm air rushed through the water and down into her waterlogged lungs. Her eyes opened again as she took a strong breath, suddenly able to breathe once again. The same warm air began to whirl around her body, and she cried out, feeling her legs fuse together. She looked down as her bottom half began to form into a long, lustrous teal tail.

Another cry had her snapping her head up to see the sharks managing to drag Morskoi out of the net, and she grit her teeth, turning to the rocks below and finding a jagged, sharp-edged rock. She looked back up and shot forward, a look of dark vengeance in her eyes as she darted towards the trio. She gripped the rock and swam right to the first shark, stabbing him in the side as soon as she was close enough and whipping around to stab the second one in the back. The mersharks looked alarmed, not expecting this sudden intrusion, but as soon as the first shark loosened his jaws around Morskoi’s tail the merman tore himself away painfully, catching the sight of Shelby’s tail and watching as she swam in a circle, rounding back to stab the first shark again.

“That’s for biting my boyfriend!” She snarled out, thwapping the second shark with her tail as soon as he came close before twisting around to slice through his chest. “THAT’S FOR STRANGLING ME!”

“Shel is that you?” Morskoi’s eyebrows rose into his hair, but he was spared only a moment of shock before the first shark tried to attack the newly born mermaid. “Shit!” Morskoi hurried to get between him and Shelby, throwing a punch to the mershark’s jaw as Shelby swiftly stabbed the second one in the eye after dodging his tail.

The mershark opened his mouth to say something to the other and Shelby raised the rock again, glaring at the second one. With one eye the second one said something in return that happened to convince his friend, and the two shot away from them quickly, swimming as fast as possible to leave.

Shelby’s eyes watched them swim away, slowly lowering her guard and the bloodied piece of rock before Morskoi grasped her arm and turned her around. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, silence extending between them before the merman’s green eyes fell towards the woman’s tail. Shelby also looked down at her tail, raising it up slightly and spinning, trying to get a good look.

“I’m a mermaid.” She said in her disbelief.

“You’re a mermaid.” Morskoi was just as shocked.

“I’m a mermaid.” She repeated, raising her head to look at the man again. “How am I going to tell my parents?”

Morskoi began to laugh, taking a moment just to have that laugh before Shelby finally focused on Morskoi’s mangled tail. She dropped the rock in her hand, moving to touch his tail and grimacing. “We have to get that treated.” She told him.

“It’s just a scratch, I’m fine.”

“Bullshit you’re fine.” Shelby grabbed for his hand, leading him back to the net’s torn opening. Morskoi pulled back, leading her away from the net and towards another direction.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

The merman gave her a charming grin, “I need to thank the fair maiden who saved me, right? I know a nice private spot inside a wooden building.”

Shelby’s light skin began to take on color to it, her face warming at the implications the merman was referring to. “Oh…okay.”

He winked at her and leaned forward to give her a swift kiss on the cheek, leading her back to the boathouse.

♥♥♥

The sun was returning to its rightful place up high when Avery finally decided to leave his room, quietly listening to his lover sleep in the spot next to him as he slowly dressed himself in what was bought the day before yesterday. He also had new sandals, which felt strange for the most part. As someone who wore nothing but business attire, vacation clothes were abnormal on him both in visual and feeling. He stayed sitting for a moment longer, debating on going without Elijah. He knew that if he left without warning Elijah would suffer mentally from it until he returned, and in turn if Avery was thrown for another jarring surprise he would be all alone without anyone to help him. He let out a sigh, turning to his sleeping boyfriend and nudging his shoulder with his hand.

“Wake up.” He said softly.

Elijah turned in his spot, opening his eyes just slightly and frowning, “Huh-why are you dressed?”

“I’m going to see my mother.” He said quietly, though that statement alone had Elijah waking up immediately, the younger of the two sitting up quickly.

“You mean you’re better now?”

Avery gave him a slight smile, “I wouldn’t say that, stable maybe, but I…” He paused, looking away. “I want to see her, have a talk. I can do this alone if you want to stay here…” He leaned forward to give Elijah a kiss to his forehead. “Yesterday was as stressful on you as it was on me, you deserve to stay in bed and rest.”

Elijah crawled over to him so he could curl his arms around Avery’s waist, hesitant. “Will you come back?” He let his eyes fall shut as Avery ran his fingers through his hair, nosing his scalp.

“Of course I will, I wouldn’t think of leaving without you.”

A smile met the man’s lips and he glanced up at Avery, “If there’s any trouble, call me.”

He nodded, “Of course.”

Elijah let go of Avery as the other slipped away, going back to resting on his bed and lazily watching as Avery left the room. His body tensed instantly but he willed himself to calm down, reminding himself that he would be back.

As Avery left, he passed by Isiah in the hallway, greeting him with only a nod as he made his way downstairs. Isiah’s eyes went to his clothes, “Damn, Avery’s drip is on point.”

“Ay yo Avery got drip now?” Renzo exited his room, Thomas following a moment later. The two were in their sleep clothes, Thomas’s hair stuck in all sorts of directions as he yawned.

“He must be dripping so much that he’s _soaking_ in style.” Thomas commented through his yawn, “Do you think Jaques knows how to make Thai food?”

“Jaques is French.” Isiah told him, perking up as soon as he saw Willow leave her room, “Just the girl I wanted to see!” He smiled widely, crossing the spacious floor “I believe I earned my fifty bucks.”

Willow looked at him, and then at Renzo and Thomas, “Why?”

“Well it’s obvious, isn’t it? They’re not in a relationship.”

The woman kept her eyes on Thomas and Renzo. “You don’t know that.”

Isiah didn’t back down. “I asked them yesterday if they were and they said they weren’t.”

“Is this about that dumb bet?” Renzo stepped over to them, “Because I can tell you right now we’re not in a relationship.”

Isiah grinned widely, “See, told you. Now give me my fifty dollars.”

Willow folded her arms, “Look, I don’t really care if they’re in a relationship or not, I only took the bet to shut you up and have some fun. I never expected that I’d get any money out of it and I never intended on paying you if you thought that somehow you were the winner.”

Isiah frowned, “Why can’t you give me this victory?”

“Because you can ask them for the truth all you want and they’re only going to give you the answer you want to hear, you won’t know anything concrete until they actually come out and tell us they’re dating, and even then you won’t know if they’re being sincere about it.”

Renzo laughed, “I mean true, yeah, but we’re definitely not dating.”

“Or _are_ we?” Thomas grinned despite himself, meeting Renzo’s eyes as the two shared some inside joke known only to them. Renzo only snorted in amusement and grabbed Thomas’s hand.

“Come on, _cupcake_ , let’s get some grub.”

“Only if you feed it to me, love.”

The two laughed on their way down the stairs.

Isiah watched them go, feeling the wind leave his sails. “They’re joking are they?”

Willow shrugged, “Iunno.”

“Hey, Jaden!” Renzo came back up, “Domino’s at the door!”

Everyone’s eyes went to Jaden’s door, all of them hearing a muffled noise and a loud thump before it opened, “That clown better have a good excuse for the other day or I’m going to body him into next week.” Jaden came out looking ready for a fight.

“Re-lax, Thomas is talking to him right now.”

“You left him alone with THOMAS?” Isiah’s brows rose, “I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!”

“Why not?” Renzo’s voice went up an octave. “They’re both British, I thought it’d be gucci.”

“Lord have mercy.” Isiah started heading downstairs, just in time to see Thomas practically gushing.

“Man this is a small world innit? I can’t believe I’m talking to an actual prince!” Thomas patted his chest, looking down at his clothes. “I’m not dressed for this at all.”

Domino, however, looked awkward. “I’m not really all that into the formalities, mate, I don’t care if you’re in your grandpappy’s knickers or in your mum’s overalls. I’m alone here so—“

“Are you sure?” Thomas questioned, “Cuz I read the feeds that the royal family is staying in Azucena right now.”

Domino scratched his head nervously, “Just my brothers, the ones I’m trying to avoid at the moment, which is why I decided on Vara De Oro instead of Azucena, I would be less likely to run into them here.”

“Wait wait, hold the fuck on. What is this I’m hearing?” Jaden stepped around the people gathered at the bottom of the stairs. “You’re saying that you’re a fucking prince?”

Domino couldn’t meet her eyes, “Pretty much.”

“I’m gonna have a fuckin’ stroke.”

“This is wild, fam.” Willow commented, “Is that why you acted so shifty at the aquarium?”

“You’d be correct, I didn’t expect that my obnoxious brothers would be attending on the same day.” He explained, “I didn’t want them to know that I was here as well.”

“Right.” Willow folded her arms, “What about those busty blonde girls?”

“They’re my sisters-in-law. A couple of tarts that married into the family, they’re sisters as well.”

“Guys, you don’t realize who this is.” Thomas was still in shock, “This is the third prince of the Grandmore Peninsula.”

“What is…the Grandmore Peninsula?”

“It’s a country in the middle of the North Sea, you don’t hear about it often because it’s such a neutral territory, but it makes big waves. King made news articles for taking on a black woman from the UK to be Queen in a predominately white royal family. There was backlash but the country eventually got over it.”

Domino looked sheepish, “Honestly I never expected to run into someone from the UK on my holiday but I guess I should never let my guard down.” He smiled shyly at Jaden, “This is why I came today, to tell you my secret.”

“Some secret.” Isiah looked amused, “Jaden’s dating a prince.”

“I wouldn’t say dating.” It was Jaden’s turn to be shy, “We only went out on two dates.”

“Technically wouldn’t that be dating?” Renzo asked, “I mean you’re going on dates anyway.”

Jaden looked back at Domino, who in turn smiled at her, “Your choice, love.”

“Before we go down that road I want to know why you didn’t tell me you’re a prince in the first place.”

“Because I didn’t want you to think different of me.” Domino explained, “My brothers…they don’t hide themselves like I do. It’s easy to see who only cares about your status and who wouldn’t give a shite. I don’t want to be seen as just a prince, I want to be seen as myself first and foremost. I wanted you to see me without the title.”

“Says the man who bought her an entire wardrobe on the first date.” Willow commented blandly.

Renzo snorted in amusement and Thomas rolled his eyes.

“Well everyone can’t be all bloody perfect.” Domino cried out, making Jaden cover her mouth as she let out a laugh. “Now I’d like to get a walk in with my bloody girlfriend, or does anyone else have questions?”

“Nope, nothing else.” Renzo went over to Thomas to pull the other away, both of them heading to the kitchen.

“Wait for me, I’m starving.” Isiah called out, hurrying after them.

Willow didn’t say anything, leaving Jaden alone with Domino, wherein one of the two began to get nervous again, Jaden suddenly wishing that she wasn’t alone with him. Outside she was quiet, but on the inside she was screaming her lungs out.

_“YOUR MAN IS A PRINCE, YOU BETTER NOT FUCK THIS UP.”_

“So, shall we?” Domino took her hand, raising it up to his mouth to kiss the back of it.

“Damn right we shall.” Jaden smiled widely at him as he led her out the door. They passed by Shelby, who had ran from the boathouse to the main beach house as fast as possible. Wrapped around her waist was a towel, the woman doing her best to keep it fastened on.

“Shelby?”

“OHHIJADENBYEIGOTTAGO!”

The door slammed once she was in, Domino and Jaden watching on, listening to muffled screams on the other side.

“Ah, that’s my fault.” Said a voice, directing Jaden and Domino’s attention back forward where Morskoi stood in Isiah’s clothing.

“What the fuck is this?” Jaden spoke up, gesturing to him. “What the fuck was your name again? Why the fuck was she screaming?”

“Uh…” Morskoi passed the two of them, “Long, long story. Right through there, right?” He pointed to the door, and Jaden folded her arms as he headed for the door and opened it, taking a step inside.

“My pants!” Isiah cried out.

Domino watched on, “Should we…go back?”

“Fuck no.” Jaiden pulled him away from the house, “I don’t see shit, I don’t know shit. Shit didn’t happen. Let’s go sightseeing.”

As the two of them left the property they passed by a pacing and nervous man. Though while Jaden didn’t recognize Avery without his regular attire, Avery was too distracted to even notice Jaden and her companion.

He said he was going to talk to his mother, but halfway there he began to hesitate. Why was he hesitating? It wasn’t like him to hesitate. He was the type to decide something and follow through with it without any second thought, but here he was pacing.

He was nervous. He was nervous about seeing his mother again. That’s why he was hesitating. He now had a mother and he didn’t know what to do with himself. After telling his father how he felt, he assumed that he was getting better, but no, he still had that weight inside of him. He didn’t know what would happen after all of this. What was he supposed to say to her? What was he supposed to do? He was leaving the island soon, but suddenly it felt too fast.

“Are you going to keep doing that?”

Avery jumped in his spot, turning sharply to see Kenny and Damien standing to the side. Damien looked purely amused, while Kenny was silent, eating a churro and watching. “Just how long were you here?”

“Lomg enouf.” Kenny said through his churro.

Avery frowned, “What are you two even doing?”

“Well, I’ve been meeting with various people of the village and informing them of my imminent departure.” Damien explained, reaching out to hold Kenny’s hand, “Since I’m leaving with you and all.”

“Leaving with us.” Avery repeated.

“Not for long.” Kenny said after swallowing his bitten piece. “We’ve been thinking about it, and since this is technically the place my family’s ancestry resides on, and since Damien is the leading demon here, I’m thinking of moving to Calyss.”

The information nearly passed Avery without recognition before he began to focus on two key words. “You’re coming back then.”

Kenny smiled slightly, “I’ve been looking for a good way to tell you for a day or so. We’re only coming back to retrieve my stuff and say goodbye to the rest. I guess that leaves you with an open spot on your roster.”

“Two open spots.” Avery corrected him, “Rhys isn’t returning with us.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Are you certain you want to do this?”

Kenny looked along the area, “I can see myself living here…it’s nice and warm, I’m going to live in a fucking castle and I’ll be able to learn everything I’ve ever wanted to learn. The people here know who I am and I feel welcomed despite all of that.” He looked over at Damien, “Besides, this is Damien’s island, and I want to stay with him.”

Avery nodded slowly, “I guess I don’t have any valid reason to convince you otherwise…” As Avery cast a glance Damien’s way he found that the demon was staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” He smiled, “It’s just so weird to know that you and I are related.”

Oh yeah, there was that little piece of information. Avery felt his fingers twitch in the sudden need for a cigarette.

Damien looked away from Avery after that, “We should go back to the house and tell your friends.”

Kenny nodded, taking another bite of his churro as Damien lead him towards the property. Avery didn’t watch them leave, already taking a cigarette out of his pack and lighting it up. He let out a sigh, looking down the small road towards Diana’s house before heading in another direction, walking towards the small public beach.

It was funny that now he got to experience some of what was on this island, he had the ever-growing urge to return home. Elijah was right, creating different memories would drown out the old ones, even if those memories were traumatizing at first. He sat down in the sand, slipping his sandals off to bury his feet under the warm granules as he gazed out at the ocean.

He wasn’t alone for long, two feet planing themselves behind him as the corresponding hands moved to cover his glasses. Avery smiled slowly and looked up, catching the sight of his boyfriend in a sunhat and an airy dress. “I thought you were going to relax.”

“It’s hard to relax without you with me.” Elijah told him honestly, removing his hands so he could move to sit next to him. “I also had a feeling that you didn’t go anywhere, and I was right.” He leaned his head on Avery’s shoulder, glancing up at him. “I thought you were going to talk to your mother.”

“I was.” Avery let his eyes fall shut, “Then I wasn’t.”

“Are you afraid?”

“I don’t know…” He traced his hand along the sand, “I’m not afraid of what she would think of me, if that’s your question. I remember her when I was younger…”

“You do?” Elijah frowned, “When she was your father’s maid right? How did you get along?”

“She was my mother when I thought I had none.” He explained, remembering it very well. How Diana would sing him to sleep when he would have troubles doing so, how she would make him his favorite breakfast in the mornings. She disciplined him when he was being difficult and cared for him when he cried, all the things a mother would do.

“It sounds like you always had your mother. Even if she wasn’t officially your mother, she was still there.”

Avery nodded quietly, leaning against Elijah.

Elijah smiled, “You’re someone who needs to be cared for and looked after…”

“I look after myself just fine.” He said indignantly, though the passion was lost behind the words.

“You were barely holding on when I found you.” Elijah hummed.

“Excuse me, but you’re the one who needed my help.”

“We helped each other.” Elijah said to him in a soft voice. “Now I’m going to help you go see your mother.”

Elijah was the first to stand, extending his arm out for Avery to take. Avery waited just a moment longer before taking the hand, putting his sandals back on after brushing the sand off his feet.

“After this how about a romantic dinner, just the two of us?” Elijah asked, smiling up at his lover.

“I wouldn’t mind that…as long as it’s just the two of us.”

“It’s a date. ♥”

♥♥♥

A day meant for leisure became a night of tranquility, Shelby was sitting with Morskoi, sitting near the edge of the rocks and both of them watching the night sky glittering with stars.

“It’s so beautiful here…it’s a shame I have to go home soon.”

Morskoi looked at her curiously, “You don’t live here?”

“No, I live further on the mainland.” She smiled wanly, “This week was meant to be a relaxing vacation, and boy did I get what I didn’t pay for.” She began to chuckle a little. “I still can’t believe I’m a mermaid now. Oh, that’s going to go super well on my swim team.”

“You don’t have to go back.” Morskoi said to her, “You could stay here.”

She shook her head, “I can’t. I’m going to college, I’m on the swim team…” She went quiet for a moment, looking over at him, “You could come with me!” Her eyes brightened and she leaned closer to him. “Would you like to come with me?”

Her excitement was astounding to him, and he raised his brows, watching her wide smile. “You mean go with you to the mainland?”

“Yes!”

Morskoi thought about it, “How wet is it there?”

She grinned, “I live twenty-miles near a beach so we could go there on weekends. Oh, I can show you where I work. You’ll love it there, have you had coffee before?”

The merman looked confused, “Coffee?”

“I have so much to teach you.” Shelby realized how much he didn’t know about the human world, reaching for his hands. “I can teach you a lot of things, and we could come back to Calyss and you can show me around the sea. Would that sound okay?”

“Learning about human culture sounds good…” He considered the option, “I do want to try more human food.”

Shelby giggled slightly, imagining Morskoi becoming a chef. “There’s a lot of ways to prepare fish.”

That seemed to catch his attention, “Really?” He shifted to face her, “Just how many ways are there?”

“Oh boiled, sautéed, barbecued—“

“Barbecued?”

“Oi!” Renzo’s voice broke into their conversation. “Quit making out and come get your burgers!”

“Like that.” Shelby got up from the rock, reaching out for Morskoi, “Let’s feed you some cow.”

“What’s cow? Like a sea cow?”

“A land cow.”

The two of them slid off of the rock and back onto land, making their way to the patio. Everyone was settled around the dining table, even Domino, sitting next to Jaden as Kenny and Damien sat next to each other.

“I can’t believe we’re going home soon.” Renzo said as he served Morskoi his hamburger, “This place is fun.”

“I’m somewhat regretful that we have to leave.” Thomas commented, gazing at the ocean.

“I’m sure we can come back.” Jaden said, “Either way, I Ain’t leavin’ without my man.”

Domino snuck a kiss from her cheek that had Renzo making a face.

“Ew gross, don’t be gay.”

“I can actually throw you off this cliff.” Domino told him, “Care for a demonstration?”

“Nah.”

“So we left with ten people and we’re coming back with twelve.” Isiah said then, “Who’s telling Avery?”

“Not it!” Came the chiming of everyone’s voice as they all raised their hands. The only ones who weren’t fast enough were Isiah and Morskoi, the latter of the two not understanding what it meant.

“Great! The new guy can tell him!” Isiah grinned before Shelby kicked him under the table.

“You do it, clown.” She said.

“I say you do it, Ariel.” Isiah snapped back.

“Who’re you calling Ariel, Goofy?”

“Why don’t you get in the bathtub then look in the mirror, Flounder.”

“I’m going to—“

The argument continued, both of them going back and forth with each other as their voices carried down the beach. On the other end, Avery sat with Elijah, both of them hidden behind the rocks as Elijah sat in Avery’s lap.

“How long are we going to pretend that we can’t hear them?” Elijah questioned, nuzzling Avery’s neck.

“Until Shelby finally stabs him.” Avery leaned forward to kiss his lover’s neck.

“Mmm will we have time before that?”

“I think so.”

♥♥♥

♥♥♥

end.


End file.
